Regardless of institutional size and type, campus partnerships are essential to the work we do as orientation, transition, and retention professionals, and this webinar seeks to provide OTR professionals with a variety of tools and perspectives to consider when working to more effectively navigate these partnerships. Using needs-based communication, thoughtful feedback, intentional creation of partner events and navigation of organizational politics, OTR staff can have successful connections across campus.

In this webinar, the presenters will provide you with a variety of ideas of how to approach partnerships on campus using strategies that can be utilized in different situations. The strategies that will be presented could be adapted for institutions of varying size and resources.

About the Presenter:

Heather Ferguson: Heatherhas worked with students in transition for 7 years: first as the Coordinator of Recruitment &amp; Orientation at Kishwaukee College—a small community college in northern Illinois—and currently as the Coordinator of Orientation Operations at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. At Kishwaukee, she collaborated with campus partners and high school counselors on projects ranging from developing new marketing materials to visiting in-district high schools to creating the college’s first Visit Day program.

In her current role, Heather coordinates SOAR logistics and advising operations for the 16,000+ students and guests who come through SOAR every summer and supervises a team of 10 undergraduate students who run the SOAR office and serve as front-desk staff throughout the academic year.

In all of her professional roles, quality partnerships have been key to success—and the varied environments have showed her a few tricks of the trade. Heather holds a Master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University.

Carren Martin: Carrenhas had the pleasure of working with new students and their families at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the past twenty years and currently serves as the Assistant Dean/Director of the Center for the First-Year Experience (CFYE) on that campus. As a part of CFYE, Carren has balanced student-centered and administrative responsibilities from supervising student and professional staff and developing Orientation programming to managing a complex budget and coordinating departmental moves. Collaboration and developing partnerships have been critical and rewarding aspects of her work both at UW-Madison and in her various leadership roles in NODA, including serving as a past Executive Secretary/Treasurer and co-chairing the NODA Leadership Restructuring ad-hoc committee. Carren holds a Master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University.